Praise for MacArthur’s Spies
“Peter Eisner does a masterful job of telling the colorful, largely unknown story of an intrepid array of Americans in the Philippines who evaded capture by the Japanese in World War II and helped mount a powerful resistance movement against them. A sultry nightclub owner in Manila and a businessman who used his cover as a Central American consul to spy on the Japanese are just two members of a fabulous cast of characters that could have come straight from a Graham Greene novel.” –Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London and Last Hope Island
“MacArthur’s Spies reads like Casablanca set in the Pacific, filled with brave and daring characters caught up in the intrigue of war—and the best part is that it’s all true! With great historical detective work and narrative grace, Peter Eisner opens our eyes to the amazing story of Claire Phillips. Inside her shadowy Manila nightclub, Claire masterminded a spy ring that outfoxed Japanese invaders and helped America win World War II when all seemed lost. This is a spy story about a remarkable woman who, through her own cunning and considerable charm with the men in her life, manages to survive—a triumph of the human spirit.” —Thomas Maier, author of Masters of Sex and When Lions Roar: The Churchills and the Kennedys.
“Peter Eisner has mastered the art of bringing history alive by finding-and telling-the story within the story. He has done it again with this thrilling tale of deception, romance, and physical endurance set against the backdrop of World War II in the Pacific. Memorable characters, exotic locales, realistic dialogue, extraordinarily high stakes—this book has the ingredients of a great spy novel. Plus: it all actually happened.” –Michael Dobbs, author of Six Months in 1945: From World War to Cold War and One Minute to Midnight
“…fast-moving history of the Manila resistance to the Japanese…Eisner’s history is a well-researched, entertaining, and informative look at the resistance to the Japanese occupation. –Publisher’s Weekly.
Praise for The Freedom Line
From The Washington Post
“Like the cinema classic “Casablanca,” this is a gripping saga of undercover resistance, dangerous intrigue and inspiring courage in Nazi-occupied territory in World War II. Instead of in French Morocco, however, the story unfolds in German-held Belgium and France and legally neutral Spain. Instead of Humphrey Bogart’s Rick and Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa, the main characters in this escape include a pert young Belgian nurse; a handsome, 20-year-old American B-17 pilot; and a beret-wearing Basque smuggler, a giant of a man who led groups of downed Allied airmen to safety across the rugged Pyrenees Mountains. But the most important difference between the 1942 Hollywood screenplay and Peter Eisner’s book is that the story he tells is true.”- John Whiteclay Chambers II
From Publishers Weekly
Chronicling a group of young resistance fighters from Spain, France and Belgium, Washington Post deputy foreign editor Eisner brings to life “the Comet Line” they formed to lead Allied troops caught in the Basque region of Spain to safety. Eisner, whose wife is Basque, has spent a great deal of time in the area, and that familiarity permeates this taut account of trust and bravery among civilians and military men. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Praise for The Pope’s Last Crusade
“Engrossing. … Lively.” (Library Journal)
“An exciting reminder of how Vatican machinations continue to haunt history.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Gripping. … Finally, the story of a lost opportunity that could have affected the course of history can now be told.” (Voice of Reason)
Peter Eisner 